That was my mindset when I submitted it. Why is this guy's life being destroyed over an intangible, and at this stage in RealNetworks' business plan, unprofitable product? They stopped supporting the version of the Real codec that Real Alternative uses a long time ago, and likely never really profited much on it in the past several years.

Yet they are causing an immense hardship to this young man, basically destroying his life, and even if they win they could never possibly collect damages from him as they have already bankrupted him in legal fees.

I don't care if he created Real Alternative, hosted it or just linked to it, none of those actions warrant the kind of gross financial destruction he has already suffered, before the trial is even over. I sincerely hope he wins and the judge orders RealNetworks to make him whole.

The whole point of "an eye for an eye", was to limit retribution - to have an even, fair and balanced justice system. There's nothing even, fair or balanced about what Real Networks are doing to this guy. It is amazing that he is accused of no crime (it is a civil case), but the impact on his life is worse than it would be if he had been convicted of a serious crime.